A Chinese car salesman started a fire in a busy exhibition hall after he used a phone charger to try and restart a car with a dead battery.

The incident happened at an exhibition in Wuhan city, in central China's Hubei province, while the vehicles were being put in position and as the public queued up outside.

Some of the cars needed to be started for the show, including a Cadillac Escalade, but it wouldn't turn over because its battery was flat.

The Cadillac Escalade billows smoke from under its bonnet at an exhibition in China, as a man with a fire extinguisher stands near by; a salesman suggested using a phone charger to kick-start its flat battery

Instead of charging the battery, the car went up in smoke, as exhibitors stood around watching

A salesman then offered his phone charger, suggesting that might do the job.

But instead of firing up the ignition, the charger caused the truck to catch fire, sparking a major alert as dozens of fire engines rushed to the congress centre.